The Uncommon Combination
by Lisa Marie Keck
Summary: There is a line, a very line and fragile line, that lies between the darkness and the light. Serena has never been part of that balance, until forces outside of her control push her towards it. But the line between the good and the bad is thin, and sharp as a razor edge.


**Prologue**

"Serulia." Maryx's voice echoed into the hall, as though it were empty, bouncing off the walls and painfully landing in her ears. He always had that voice, the deep boom so terrifying that it scared her into existence. Where there was darkness before, the words he spoke to her unconsciousness snapped her sightless eyes open, and awoke her bloodless heart. It would be impossible not to recognize the one that had given her life, even in this terrible moment, surrounded by so many curious eyes.

The room, though silent as a crypt, was of course anything but empty. The entire colony had come out for this event, as they did with many an open celebration or shaming. Despite their normal temperament, they always took to the rotunda with restraint, a quiet kind of darkness, as visceral as being shrouded in a thick veil. Each waited for the sentence, and though it wasn't breath that animated them, there was a suspended quality to the air, a collective waiting on bated breath never to come.

Bane was standing, leaning really, onto one of the pillars nearest where Serulia was kneeling, hands prostrate on the black marble floor. Her deep dark steel grey hair hung like metallic waterfall, so long that it dusted the floor with its tips. He had always dreamt of his hands, running and threading through the magnificent length, more times than his memory could ever recall with accuracy.

In the radiant light of the space she occupied, the color of it was of molten silver, unblemished with any other diluting color. Most that were here, including him, had various shades of deep brown, and black. As such Serulia always stood out, was always a magnet for others, and that wasn't counting her own fierce personality. Bane had warned her for years about her behavior, but stopping Serulia from doing what she wished was as pointless as stopping the dawn.

This time though, her actions were so unspeakable that even Bane hadn't come to her aid. He was the highest ranking here before the ancients, and carried an immense amount of weight. Still, he kept silent, for her actions were not just a simple betrayal for him. They were intended, and as such, her behavior was a direct degradation of himself.

"You have been a disappointment, almost from the beginning. Before your awakening, everyone warned me about your scans, as did the priestesses that we consulted with. Sick with wanting, was what Astaroth told me was wrong with you. None of us knew the extent of how lacking you would grow to be. But, as you do even now, your beauty blinded us to how deep your fault lines truly run. Your bewitching grey hair, and matching eyes were all we saw for too long." With this part of his speech over, Maryx took a second to collect the other part that he had to say.

It was telling that it took him a moment to speak. Serulia was his and this sentencing was as much a punishment for her as it was for him. "The circle finds that these fault lines are too deep to correct, with either punishment, or with corrective instruction. Both of which have been liberally given to you over the past centuries. But your recent trips into the Power's territory are not only troubling, but a direct challenge to our one sacred rule. Due to this fact, as well as the concern that you will bring degradation and shame to the Throne colony, we banish you."

"Banish?" Cerulia whispered, so quietly that only Asmodeus, seated in his throne before them could discern the word.

"You will have your wings shaven, cleaved to the bone." Bane noticed the shocked hiss from the crowd, for it mirrored his own. He could hear the slight hitch in Maryx's voice, but it did little to comfort his sympathy for Serulia. Wings, as wide and as powerful as a Throne's, took almost a quarter of a millennia to grow in, or back. Sometimes longer, and that was on their home plane. Being banished meant it could take longer, if at all.

"When they have completed their regeneration, you will come back here, and appeal the sentence to the reigning Throne Prince, whoever that shall be. If you fail us again, there will be no return for you." At this Serulia's head snapped up, liquid foggy eyes narrowing on her mentor.

"Then I will see you in hell," Serulia spat, turning to put her back to Maryx and Asmodeus.

Bane assumed she was about to storm off, as she usually did. Slowly, as though she wanted to take her time, she dropped each strap of her gown, until she was half clothed, the top of her garment draped over her hips. Her silver hair covered most of her as she parted the lengths in the back to hang in front, exposing her back.

Serilia's deep grey wings, almost verging on black, extended from her back with nary a twitch or indication of what was to come. She held them outstretched, as large and expansive and powerful as anyone's in the realm. The feathers weren't shimmery, like her hair, but a matte color, like the blade of a fine weapon. Exactly the same shade as the sword that Astaroth brought in next. His eyes, like most now, shined though a growing hunger.

The common thread of decency was leaving the room, replaced by a stirring desire for violence, vengeance, for the meting out of a punishment many felt had come too late. Yet through it all, Serulia remained as still as the pillar that Bane was leaning against, her emotionless face devoid of any light, or darkness.

"I will see you soon," Maryx whispered in her ear, before taking the blade from Asaroth, and sawing thought the muscle and bone of her back. Her ensuing scream reminded Bane of a war cry, and it was his ears alone that could detect her words underneath the noise.

"Damn you all!"

**Chapter 1 **

"Serena!" William yelled from the other side of the bar, cutting through the pleasant white noise chatter and setting her teeth on edge. He was the manager here at the bar, with a fancy college degree from a building right down the street to indicate he was fit to run the place. In reality, he was a nervous ninny that wouldn't be capable of managing a taco cart, no less the most frequented place on the block closest to NYU. We did more business than a times square franchised restaurant.

"Put Mia on the back section and tell the back waiter to leave the dishes and take some of her tables. I can cover the rest until Remington comes from his other job." William looked at Serena like she was a mind reader, his face relaying all of his relief at someone telling him what to do.

"Great, yeah so you just do that, and I'll be in the office. Doing orders," William said, before turning and walking quickly thought the growing crowd.

"He has so many orders that it takes him all night, almost every night he's here," Mia said with an eyes roll as she came to stand near the opening to the bar. Serena just smiled with sympathy, thinking to herself that it might just be time to pack up and move on if things here didn't get better. She had a simple rule when it came jobs; they had to be as fun as they were dispensable, which led her down the path of restaurant and bar positions.

Mia often said she had a face that made people want to open up, to tell her things, unburdening secrets that liquid courage broke up enough to release. Remington said that she had an old soul, one that his cajun blood connected with. Fucking hippies, Serena thought to herself; they had the right idea, but not enough sense to do anything with it.

"Take the back section, and I'll have Rodrigo come and cover half of your tables now. The rest I can cover until Rem gets here," she told Mia, parroting what she had just told William. Mia was a decent waitress, but she was far too flighty to make something of it. She had introduced herself to Serena on her first day as a southern debutante, studying interior design, and looking for a husband in the big apple. It took a marked effort for Serena not to laugh outright at her. Despite that, she seemed a decent enough human, and she never missed a shift. Probably, she thought, because Mia was no southern debutante, but more like penniless trailer trash with no family, and this was the sole means for her support.

"Yes ma'am!" Mia said with a giggle and salute before marching off with a full tray towards the back. Her short and blonde frame coming clear in stark contrast to the sullen and dark college crowd. Serena found it interesting how each bar had a different tone,distinct feel, almost as if each town had a consciousness, weaving its will into each person.

New York had it's own kind of strange vibrancy, palpable, like a drumming fast heartbeat that never slowed its rhythm. Sneaky Pete's had a similar feel, a pulsing kind of energy, drawing her in from the street as she passed. It was the youth that she could feel, the energy and hope and life that pounded out of each person, calling for her to come close. This was one of few places that chose her, and not the other way around.

It was also this reason that Serena chose to stay here for three years, far longer than any place she had lived for a very long time.

They all worked in a nice groove for a while, until the steady stream of college coeds stemmed, and the academic suits took over. As the night ran long, the younger swarm always went more towards the bars that catered more towards their tastes. Mia and Rem had petitioned William to run the same promotions, but to no avail, so Sneaky Pete's remained as one of the old fashioned establishments in the neighborhood.

William distained buckets of light beer, and anything associated with the words happy hour, or god forbid the unspeakable word of karaoke. This was a place for a gentleman, and ladies, he had intoned, sounding like he had memorized some kind of manifesto from the back of our menu. He insisted that the owner would never want the bar to become 'one of those places'.

It served Serena just fine, so she never put up a fuss as the others did. The deluge of the young and entitled never failed to get old, and she was starting to look forwards to the mature crowd. They always tipped better, and the options they gave her in serving drinks was expanded from the usual light beers, long islands, and the giggling girls who ordered buttery nipples.

Remington came in, to the cheers of some of his regulars, his large trumpet bag slung over his shoulders. For most of lunch and dinner he played some of the small jazz clubs around the area before the bar crowds grew, and he raced back here, but tonight he was later than usual. Saturday's was Pete's most steady night, and it was rare that he would come in any later than ten. It was now nearly eleven, and Serena was both grateful and resentful that he had come in. Remington scanned the area, found Serena, and let out an audible sigh.

She always had the kind of effect on him, as if it were unbearably hot and the sight of her cooled him instantly. Mysterious as she was, and none of them knew a single thing about her, she made him think of home. Home, he mused, as it once was, before the storm wiped it away, and he came up here. His mother and grandmother would call it the deep magic, not the wand or spells bringing kind, but that variety that existed at the heart of an individual.

William had once told him that he believed Serena didn't have a heart. She was too cold to house something that was as warm as that; he had confessed to Remington one late night after closing, and he had suspected it was from his earlier attempts to get to know her. William had said that she merely ignored him, explaining that she wasn't comfortable getting personal with her superiors. He told her that she seemed surprisingly eager to get to know the customers, and that directly led to Remington staying after closing to nurse William's black eye. He didn't feel too bad for the boss really, calling an employee a frigid bitch deserved a good hit.

Sadly, this wasn't the first time she had been subjected to such taunts. It probably didn't help that her hair was different shades of gray and blue ice, matching almost perfectly the tone of her strange light dove eyes. Serena could have been described as goth, perhaps even emo, if not for her complete lack of makeup. Most her age that leaned towards the alternative lined their eyes as dark as coal, but not Serena, her eyes were crystal clear, skin as unblemished a child's. She looked like an ice queen, and her countenance didn't deter customers, often jilted men, to call her as such. If it bothered her, Remington thought, she never showed it.

"Rem, stop staring at her and get behind the bar to help us out. We're drowning, and Serena is up to her ears with some bachelor party that won't leave her alone," Mia called out to him, snapping Rem out of his daze. He gave her a lazy smile.

"Hey, there Cherie," he called out to Serena, who was quickly but deftly filling orders for a few customers.

"Rem, did you get carried away with your skats or something? It's damn near midnight, and Professor Pine is having his brother's bachelor party here," Serena said, half scolding and half joking towards Remington. For his part, he looked about ten shades of red, his pearly white skin always showing easily his emotions.

"Pine? Is he the pompous Art History professor who wants in your pants, or the Spanish Professor that wants to get in my pants?" Remington asked; the red color gone, and a blinding white smile in its place. He was hot tempered, but easily brought back down, a trait that served him well over the years. Serene returned him with a rare one of her own. She smiled, sure, but it rarely touched her eyes, as it did now.

"He's the world religions professor," she said with an eye roll. Every college town had one, and they seemed as attracted to her as any of the humans she had encountered. Perhaps they were tuned into her own specific frequency, but then again, she thought, that should mean they ran the opposite direction. Instead, like Pine, they sat at her bar top night after night, attempting to do what was impossible.

"Who Pine, he sure is a handsome bastard but he thinks too much. Even after a few drinks, his words get _bigger_," Mia said with a laugh as she wiped her forehead. It was early fall, only another week until school resumed, but the heat was lingering, making her shirt stick to her back. Serena, she thought with a scowl, never looked uncomfortable in the heat. She never had to cover up her sweat stains, and her hair never was anything but perfect looking, even with its strange color.

In the trailer back in Mississippi, her mama used to watch star trek, and it was all Mia could do but watch along. Serena looked like one of those crew members, with odd manners and coloring, but with normal human features. It wasn't that she disliked Serena; she had never been anything but passively kind to her, but she was too beautiful to know. Women with that kind of gorgeousness were untouchable.

"He likes to hear himself speak, which is a professor trait, but his ideas aren't half bad. A touch simple-minded in his focus; he tends to get stuck in the wrong parts, but with his background in physics he has a unique view that most others ignore. He should shift his thesis, off the eastern deities, they have too many for him to concentrate on and without any decent background to compare them to he'll get swamped. But then again, going back to the biblical studies could be more dangerous, he runs the risk they're all going to figure him out. I wonder if the board chair knows he's an atheist?" Serena said it all absentmindedly, as she was sometimes prone to do, but even this rant was long for her. Remington stared at her, Mia as well, both of them knowing it was the most she had spoken to them at one time. Not any words of real consequence or any insight into her thoughts.

"I, uh, um we talk a bit on the slow nights." Serena touched her face, as she had seen bar goers often do when blushing. No such tinge would tint her cheeks, not at the moment at least. "Rem, take over your usual station, Mia can shift when her tables wrap up." With that she walked away, smiling something tight in greeting to the next up on the other side of her bar.

"Do you think she likes Pine then?" Mia asked Rem.

"Like him? I don't know. They talk some, but,

" Remington trailed off, uncertain even to himself where he was going with it.

"But how would we know? Serena isn't the type to like anyone," Mia finished for him.

Jake, the other bartender, came in next, ringing the bell over the cash register and garnering his own round of cheers. Serena knew he was running late; he had called earlier, but the sight of him made her relax visibly. Out of everyone in the bar, Jake was the only one who never pried for information, never forced anything upon her or made her feel as though she was out of place. It was a small comfort, one that didn't come around often enough.

"Hey there," Jake said, leaning in a brushing a kiss on her cheek. The first time he attempted to do it, she punched him, but he kept trying every time he came across Serena. Every so often he might get a small smile, a tiny victory in a world that allowed him little.

"Ugh, deliver me Jake," Serena pleaded, hands tightly gripping the edges of the ledge which held the cash register. Tonight seemed far more taxing than usual. Perhaps it was the heat; she thought, or the sudden influx of new students that had her head as spun as it was now. Jake placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Serena, what's going on? Is that rowdy bunch in the corner giving you a problem? Bachelor parties are best kept to strip clubs, or any place with bouncers," Jake said with a glance towards where Professor Peter Pine was currently sitting, head thrown back in the throes of deep laughter. His friend, draped in breast shaped light bulb necklaces, was singing an old Irish tune, and doing a piss poor job of rhyming it correctly.

"Can you man the deck Jake?" Serena asked, glancing behind her towards Pine and his little party. "If I don't go there, he's likely to murder the song, and then all of Ireland will know that this was the place where the limerick died." Jake nodded at her and watched her walk away.

Serena had the tray loaded with a variety of mixed drinks that were watered down some, in the hopes that it would keep her from having to call in the cleaning crew later. Judging by the way in which the singing had escalated, they would never notice.

"And this is whom I was telling you about," Professor Pine exclaimed, grabbing Serena by the waist at the moment of unbridled liquid courage. "The woman with all of the answers, but no questions." He sounded both drunk off his ass, and deep in thought, which in her opinion was the most dangerous of duos.

"That's Serena?" a man said, sitting just to the left of Pine. His voice held all of the incredulity of a man who had just been told the world was made of candy.

Serena took the jab in stride, having expected the reaction when Pine had told her that he was bringing his friends here, and discreetly removed his hand from the top of her ass. He had never taken that kind of position with her before, and it took a good deal of effort for her not to drop her tray onto his head.

"Boys, boys, boys," she intoned. "Now be good little mates and takes these drinks off my hands, and use the moment to reflect on your prospects for future professions." This little speech was met with blank stares; mouths so wide open that she could have gone in for inspection of their molars.

"She means just stick with the Histories of the modern world, and away from butchering the great songs of History," Pine said, finally having snapped out of his daze, not that his answer made any sense to his own ears.

It seemed to be taking him twice as long to translate what Serena had said, both because he was tanked, and because it was the first time he had seen her in front of the bar. She seemed to use it as a talisman, keeping herself from him, from them all, by barricading herself behind the old wood top. And now she was here, her height seeming more impressive, her deep gray blue hair and eyes as impassive as seeing a glacier in person.

"Serena, may I make some introductions. This man here is one of my oldest friends, and also so happens to be the man of the hour, Luca," Pine said, slapping his entranced friend on the back lightly. Luca, at this point, was staring so intently at her breasts that she wondered if it might be possible for her to produce a genuine blush. Pine added in a slap to the back of his head next.

"I'll grab for some waters, otherwise, whatever stop you all intend on going to next will never happen," Serena said, turning to head back to the comfort of her bar. She preferred it back there, the deep separation with only the quiet Jake to contend with. Just as she had turned fully, she felt a hand at her elbow, turning her attention towards the man.

"Don't forget about me love. Peter always fails to introduce me to people," The man said. He had stepped out of his little pocket of darkness, a trick of the overhead lights that often bathed some of the seats and tables in shadow. His deep gold blonde hair now seemed to absorb the light and radiate it outwards.

"I'm Alden," he said to her, with a curious tilt of his head downwards. She was so imposing in personality that Alden was surprised to find her smaller in figure than he imagined.

Serena was tall, not obscenely so, but it was rare for her to have to crane her neck upwards, as she was now. He had deep gold eyes, the exact shade of aged honey. If she were ice, she thought to herself, than he was fire. He had the face on ancient bust, all angular planes and wide jaw, with a column of muscle that she could see sticking out from under his shirt collar. Alden gave her a smile and held out his hand next, but Serena was too stunned to take it.

The front doors had opened a moment earlier, bringing in with the customers a steady stream of warm night breeze. It weaved its way through the front crowd, lifting drink napkins, and brought to her nose the scent of booze, perfume, and the men in front of her. It took some effort to suppress the intake of breath. Serena took a careful step back, eyes wildly scanning the crowd for others. If there were three, then others were surely not far behind. They always hunted in packs.

"Serena?" Pine asked, as he stepped out from behind Alden. As he placed his body in the line of the breeze, she finally got a good scent off of him, as well. Serena supposed she only had herself to blame for her lack of oversight. Nothing of import ever happened here, not in this time, and it had caused her to become complacent. So complacent that she missed the group of angels in front of her.

In general, angels always gave her a wide berth. It was so wide that it was possible for her to clear a few blocks within an hour if she showed herself openly, but it was a practice she rarely followed. Skirmishes with the light had become a non-concern for her in this modern age, but it wasn't always so, only since the last great war had settled things some with the two species.

And now here she was, surrounded by three of them, all because she failed to recognize what they were. Luca had snapped out of what looked to be a fake state of inebriation, and was now flanking the other side of Pine.

"Professor of world religious studies?" she mocked Pine, her face screwed up so tight it looked like she was in pain. Pine looked to Alden, a gaze so fierce that it could only mean he was angry with him.

"Did you drop your glamour?" Pine hissed; his face only an inch from Alden's. Remington was giving Serena 'the look', and Jake, intently watching from behind the bar, had his hand placed on the shotgun that was mounted underneath. Serena told them to back off with a wave of her hand, knowing they would listen to her judgement. She had never been wrong about fights, though they didn't get many, but she could always accurately predict what would happen. Angels would never fight with this many witnesses.

"This is tiresome brother, and I am not one to hide what we are, as if it is our shame and not hers. You shouldn't be doing it either." There was clear scorn in Alden's tone.

"I wasn't hiding Alden, I was following protocol. Lane set up some pretty clear parameters for us to work within." Serena was too busy calculating just how long she and Pine had been speaking to one another to notice that Remington had taken a spot behind the bar, and Jake was coming her way, his eyes blazing something fierce.

"Following protocol, or chasing after a tall drink of demon filth?" Alden asked, his eyebrow so high it looked ready to detach itself from his face.

"Demon filth?" Serena asked. Her hands were shaking in anger; the struggle of containing what she had within was overwhelming. How could she have been so blind to Pine?

"You heard me right," Alden snapped, stepping out from behind Pine to come and stand in front of Serena. She stepped into his body as well, unwilling to give him so much as an inch of retreat. If he were so willing to step in with her, then he knew what she was, but not who she was.

"Let's see, unreasonable prejudices, unrivaled sense of superiority, and more brawn than brains. You must be a Power then, while the rest of them are Dominions, and you're all young. Barely a millennia, I'd be willing to bet. Second tier though, how disappointing. I always thought if someone was going to come after me, they would at least send an Arch, not some bench warmer with a god complex." His face never changed, but Alden's eyes blazed as bright as campfire for a moment before he leaned in.

"Second tier, you make is sound so sexy when you say it like that Serulia," Alden whispered into her ear.

The world, for her, floated, hanging in complete abeyance. No one had called Serena by her real name since before the first war. Words held power for the demon realm, and invoking the name of demon was a dangerous action. For an angel to use it, in the breathy timber he just did, was about as taboo as sleeping with a human.

_'Serulia'. _The echo of his words still rang in her ears.

If she closed her eyes, Maryx's deep voice still called to her, the chant of her name like a drum, perhaps more like a siren call. She could still hear Bane whispering it to her as she was curled up on the cold marble floor of the Throne kingdom, detached wings lying on the ground beneath her. He had chanted her name then as well, invoking all the power that a name could carry, in the hopes that it would help her to get up. It took her a full cycle to be able to stand on her own, with Astaroth refusing her anyone who came near to help.

"What did they do to you?" Alden said suddenly, stepping back as if she had slapped him. His face, flushed so deeply before with color, had none now. She must have been projecting the image, she realized in complete horror. It was that or Alden could retrieve memories. Serena threw a hand over her mouth, her feet backing up until she hit a solid wall of man. Jake.

"We have a problem here gentleman?" he asked them. Serena straightened her back and faced off with him, unwilling to be some cowering female in the situation needing a man to come in and rescue her. She was the hero of this story.

"No problem at all. These guys know me, knew me, once. It was a very long time ago, and we were just catching up. Pine never mentioned it, so it was a surprise, and their manners haven't advanced since then. Go back to the bar, I'll be there in a moment." Jake looked at her, as if he was able to see through her, through the bullshit he could always smell coming off her. Every time he had attempted this though, it had never worked. Serena seemed to be fine, her usual calm demeanor firmly in place.

After a good long minute, Jake nodded, and reluctantly returned towards the back. When she turned around, all three of them were gone. They must have moved fast, she thought, as if something were, chasing them, or they were doing the chasing.

Neither Pine nor Luca, and Alden especially, seemed like the type to leave here without speaking with her further. If they were on a mission, one that clearly involved her, something had to be very wrong for them to expose themselves, and then abandon it all.

A noise, a sort of half growl, was almost inaudible over the hum of the crowd, but her ears picked it up. She tilted her head, estimating where the sound was coming from. Behind the bar and in the ally, and most likely some kind of attack, she realized. But an attack on whom? The urge to run was overwhelming, to grab her emergency bag that she stashed near the back safe, and get the hell out of dodge.

A hand hit her shoulder and she whirled, knocking Mia back a few paces and into the arms of a patron.

"What the hell Serena?" she asked, her face a tight mask of anger and confusion.

"I'm sorry, listen I have to get out of here. Not enough time to explain, you can have all my tips," Serena said, taking off her apron and throwing at the poor stunned girl.

"You can't just leave!" Mia called out, but Serena was already gone.

**Chapter 2**

"What the hell is going on with you? You're just going to leave, just like that?" Jake asked from the doorway to the office. William, shocked that anyone had interrupted his ordering time, sat at the computer desk, his head snapping back and forth as his two employees spoke. He checked the screen to make sure the porn he was watching had been closed out in time.

"Nothing is going on Jake, I just have to get out of here. This isn't something I would do if it was avoidable at all," Serena told him, as she reached for her bag. The weight didn't feel right, but it had been a while since she checked it, so she went through it quickly. It was hard to concentrate though, with Jake still trying to talk to her.

"Bullshit. I've never seen you as spooked as you were with those assholes. You looked like you saw a ghost back there. What is going on Serena?" Jake asked, pleading with her for him to help. He had tried, on many occasions, to get her to open up. It was gentle and slow, just as his grandfather used to do with the injured birds in his aviary.

"Jake leave it alone, please. I can handle myself surprisingly well." With that said she palmed some of her weapons, wondering to herself if they had been sharpened in the last century or two.

"Oh I have no doubt about that, but drunk bar flies who hit on you, and those big men, are two different things. They looked like skilled fighters Serena." And he would know, Jake mused, being a street fighter born and bred. Those men even stood in a half stance, light and heavy at the same time. Serena had gone very still on the ground, but it seemed like her back was shimmering, shaking ever so slightly from the center and rippling out. Jake rubbed his eyes, thinking working all those side jobs was probably not the best idea for him.

Serena was having a hard time with her own glamour. All these shocks to her system, and not enough blood, was creating this perfect storm within her. And if Jake didn't shut up, he was going to get the brunt of it all.

"Why can't you just let someone in, let someone help. It doesn't have to be you against the world." She took a deep breath in, throwing a hand out to suspend William in a state of sleep.

"By someone you mean you," Serena said with added viciousness that she was starting to feel. "You want to be the one I let in. I thought you were better than them," she said, pointing towards the front of the bar. "I always thought you were the one that understood. Some people have a legacy that are forever chasing them down, some have secrets that can never be spoken, no less understood. I know all about your fights, the warrants for your arrest, the way in which you grew up. What you did to your foster father."

"How do you know about that?" Jake asked on the softest of whispers.

"I'm good with information, and your secrets were never something I tried to get out of you. Some of us don't want to be saved, and some of us can't, but I have no desire for it at all. We shared the quiet, you and I, and now that is where you must return. None of this concerns you." Jake went very silent now, his brows pinched in amazed fury. Serena was impressed that he didn't look like he was about to pass out, more like he was ready to fight whatever was coming his way next. His childhood must have been one hell of a nightmare, to harden a man like that so fully.

A large boom came from the back alley, the unique sounds of bodies hitting objects. She was running out of time, wasting it here talking to Jake.

"Listen, I have to go. If you see more men like that, or if anyone comes and asks for me, call me on this number," Serena said, jotting down the number for her disposable phone. She stuck it into Jake's open hand. "William didn't hear anything I just said, and if he tries to pin something on you, tell him you know about his porn addiction. One check of the computer's history, and he's done." With that she walked out, releasing the hold on William.

The two men in the office looked to one another and then Jake stormed out.

Serena jogged down the back hallway, past the kitchen's where she got the usual catcalls. She popped her head in.

"Miguel?" she asked, reaching into her bag for a strap of cash. Serena threw him the cash, and it almost made it into the large vat of chili he was heating up. She knew it was too much money, the old truck wasn't new, or in good shape, but she needed this all to happen quickly.

"Throw me the keys to the truck. I need it." She held her hands out, but none of the men were moving. They were all staring at the large stack of cash that Miguel had in his gloved hands as if it were an explosive device. "Miguel!" she yelled. "The truck, I need it, and fast. Buy you wife something nice with the leftover's okay?" she told him with a smile. This seemed to unstick his shocked face as he threw the old Ford key into her open hands.

Serena turned and went through the kitchen, ignoring everyone's curious stares, hoping that someone had the side door propped open. The cooks used it for smoke breaks, but it had to be opened with a key, so they usually stuck a brick in it during shifts to avoid having to ask William.

She braced her hands on the door, closing her eyes and opening up all of her senses to hear what was going on. They were all around the back, giving her plenty of cover in the side alley.

Serena crept out, feel hitting softly on the ground, propelled by her wings, which were blissfully extended now. If she used them enough, she could walk soundlessly. Unfortunately, flying held too many dangers at the moment. Someone could see, humans and others, but it was the sound that would draw them. And hers were too powerful to miss.

The voices came into clarity just as she reached the junction of the corner. Whoever was speaking had but up enough of a glamour that Serena had to lean into the very edge of the turn just to hear them correctly.

"I'll give you just a few more chances to start speaking, angel, and then we are going to take this party somewhere a bit more private. And let me clue you in, we'll only select one of you for that. The rest will be disposed of." There was the sound of spitting, and it didn't take a genius to guess where it landed.

The next voice was one that she knew, so intimately, that the breath left her mouth in a rush of air. Impossible, Serena thought to herself, this all couldn't be happening now.

"It's not that complicated gentleman. We just want some information on where she is. One of our scouts saw you three enter the bar tonight, and the intel we have indicates that she is close to the area, so it stands to reason you all know where she is. But what use could you have for her anyway? She's a demon, and unless I have missed something, you have no authority to arrest her, for she has committed no crime against the latest covenant agreement." Bane's voice still sounded the same, like melted silk, lightly covering the sharpest of blades.

"I could ask you the same. If she has committed no crime, then why are you hunting her, as well? As you say, she has not breached the covenant, so why are you shaking down a couple of innocent angels just to get some information you have no proof we have." Alden sounded like a fine match for Bane's subtle tactics. Bane laughed at this, the deep sound making her heart ache. She had not heard it since the first war, when he stood over her, dagger in hand, his face covered in blood.

"Well, you're not as dumb as I thought. You get points for that. Listen, I am her husband, and she has been gone a very long time. It is time she came home, don't you think so my darling?" Bane asked, moving with lightening speed and appearing in front of her. She jumped in the air, her wings exploding in a violent snap as she flew above him, and landed in the back patio, directly in front of the angels.

Alden and Pine both had a hard time keeping their eyes on the real threat. Serena was magnificent looking, her wings being nothing like either of them had expected them to be. Pine had imagined them to be ice blue, and downy, like his own. But hers were a matt grey, just bordering on the color of wet cement, and they didn't look soft at all. They had the appearance of an old blade, sharp but dull at the same time, with the finest of feathery tips poking out from the bottom and dusting the floor with silvery powder. Pine never knew such a thing existed.

_"Touch them__,__ and you will die,"_ she spoke, directly into the angel's heads. Alden jerked back and scowled at her. The other demon that was speaking earlier was closer to where Bane was now, both of them looking from the corner of the alley with matching expressions of awe.

"Beloved," Bane whispered, he was almost driven to his knees at the sight of her. Her wings, now fully healed and looking somehow more grandiose than he remembered, were so wide that they hid the three angels that were behind her. Blazing hot rage erupted from his chest next, the absurd idea that she was protecting them sent his own glory out.

Bane's deep red wings split from his back, but he was too practiced at doing it, and as such they made no sound. He was all too aware that it terrified the humans more when his wings were silent.

"Beloved? Bane, have you been sleeping around with one of these fine specimens of the light?" Serena asked, her voice dripping with her own menace, mixed in with fake innocence. Bane's face was making a play at turning the same shade as his wings. "See, that's the only excuse I can find for you to be calling that name out here. Now, I know men really aren't to your taste, but perhaps in the millennia since I saw you, you have changed."

"You defile him with your accusations Serulia. It is not Bane that has broken our most sacred of laws." The innuendo was so laden that it was impossible for her not to bite.

"Oh, I see, you assume I'm sleeping with them. Well then I must have been one good lay for them to be so unwilling to give me up." Bane's wings were flapping nervously behind him, a trait that hadn't changed with time. "Or, you big fucking idiot, they didn't know anything about me, which makes far more sense."

"Nothing about you makes sense, it never did then, and it doesn't now, so I have to assume the worst with you. Now wife, we must be getting home. There is a new ascension rising at the end of the cycle, and I have been selected as a master for the new class. We will have our pick of the children Serulia; you will become a mother." The shock, at both what he was telling her, and the fact that he expected this to work sent a bubble of hysterical laughter up.

"I am banished Bane, and I am not your wife. There is no power in the light, or the dark, that will get me to go back there with you. Even should it be my deepest desire, Astharoth will never allow me back. I am a direct challenge to him, and you will never gain a high enough position to garner enough support to have me reinstated as a Throne."

Alden, Pine, and Luca all three looked as though they had been slapped. The background on Serena had been sparse, but there was nothing to indicate she was anything other than a typical demon, who had previous connections to the Throne kingdom. Serena being a throne was never even discussed, and to find that she was the wife of Bane, one of the most notorious and bloodthirsty members of their entire race, caused a collective gasp of horror.

Pine could scarcely believe it at all. He had spent far too long in her presence to view her as anything but a moderate demon, with interesting ideas, and a forward thinking mind. He couldn't think of a single instance where she had taken someone to bed, for blood or otherwise, and gotten carried away. She seemed more peaceful than some of the angels they knew.

To Alden, her wings, once majestic and unique, now looked as though they were dirty, dangerous weapons that he was ashamed to find attractive. Throne demons were the scum and scourge of their race, and he had been cleaning up their messes for far too long.

"That is none of your concern wife. Now, you will stop this running and come home. The Throne kingdom needs you; I need you. Maryx needs you." Serena's wings snapped in agitation at the name.

"I am not your wife, and Maryx can rot in that Kingdom until the end of time for I care. He lost the right to claim me, as did you once, a very long time ago. Now, you are not welcome here Bane, not now, and not ever. Find some other demon to destroy, there is nothing left of me to give you now."

There was something of a standoff then, with Serena staring at Bane, and he at her, like some kind of a mental game of chicken. Pine felt as if it were something too intimate to be witnessing, as if the three of them were intruding on something very delicate, one comment or move, and it would all shatter. The third demon to their little party was the one to break it.

"I'm afraid that even should Bane choose to grant you sympathy, one which you do not deserve, we are bound by decree to take you home. Now, stop these useless games of betrayal and love, and do your duty. The disappointments that you have delivered onto your house are staggering Serulia. Now, be a good little princess and try to at least do one action that won't bring shame onto us all. You were born for this ascension, it is the only thing you were solely created for, and you will come home with us NOW." The last word was said with such fervor that Serena could hear a couple windows smashing in the adjacent buildings. "Just remember," Marcus said, "what happened the last time you didn't do what I told you to do?"

With that, Serena pulled out two throwing knives that were tucked into the inside of each wing. She held them in front of her, enjoying the way the weight of them felt in hands. Bane eyes grew wide, but before he could do anything to protect himself she had flung them.

Alden watched them spin, not end over end, as most throwing knives went, but side to side. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but before his next breath they had buried themselves into the neck of the other demon, cutting off his head.

Marcus' head rolled end on end, coming to a stop in the middle of the gap that separated Serena and the angels, from Bane. The two demons began another stare-down, one pregnant with so much anger that Serena could have sliced through it with her knife, which were, unfortunately, lying near the stump of Marcus' dead body now.

Pine could barely take his eyes off the head for the demon's eyes and mouth were open, his teeth all fine points like needles, and eyes that were consumed with the color of ditch water. His eyebrows were still twitching, animated with a forever unspoken sentiment.

"Now Bane. I think the lady doth spoken," Alden said with an inappropriate smile, stepping around Serena's wings to stand just slightly in front of her. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, or what had spurred him forward, but it mattered little now.

"You bitch, you filthy fucking bitch. Everyone warned me about choosing you, what you were like, your lack of loyalty, your inability to behave as you were told to. Marcus was my favorite brother, and he was your mentors crowning pupil. This will be reported throughout all the kingdoms, and when you see my face again, there will be the legion at my back, calling for your own head." Bane's wings were already taking their first flap, so she had to be fast.

Serena reached into her wing again, plucking a feather from the underside of one layer. With a single throw, she launched it at Bane. It sliced through the air, but he was already gone, causing it to stick in the brick behind him. But it was too far off course, too far from where she had aimed it. She ran forward, vaulting herself over the broken body of Marcus, and landing in a crouch near the feather.

"Gotcha." Serena plucked the grey missile from the wall, savoring the smear of thick red blood that coated one side. She smiled and stood, taking a second to lick the blood off with her tongue, one side, and then the other.

Alden was watching her with curious eyes as she bent, and plucked the small little feather from the wall. The three of them watched in complete entrancement as she brought it to her lips, Serena's pink tongue lapping up every last trace of his blood, taking the time to lavish each side in her kisses.

Blood, to demons, was something of a life force. They required it to survive, unlike angels, who were not animated by any living food. To demons though, sharing blood, taking blood, sometimes even the act of giving blood, held deep significance. It was the basis for all dark magic, and there were more superstitions surrounding this practice than almost anything else demons did.

The act, while shamefully exciting to Alden, held a different fascination to Pine. He had studied the demonology for as long as he could remember, but to see something so personal, something so sacred to a demon, filled him with knowledge and joy. Luca, being more like Alden, had a hard time keeping his eyes anywhere else, but on her mouth.

Serena, suddenly was aware of the eyes around her, and stood from her crouch. She turned from them and pocketed the small feather back into place.

"You can go now," she called out, feeling the three angels at her back. Serena was sure that they weren't going to go anywhere, but she had to try. "Show's over." With marked effort, she tucked her wings in, folding them into themselves with so much force that they seemed to squeak, until they were tucked neatly under her skin once again.

Walking, Serena marched over to where Marcus was, and placed a hand over his body. Within moments, his form was gone, disappearing into the background behind him as if he were never there. She walked to the head then, placing her hands on either side of his face, and it did the same. Every trace of his body was gone.

"Where did you send him?" Pine asked. He was hoping for a response but expected nothing.

"I sent him to his master." Serena said with a gruffness that indicated some feeling, but Pine couldn't figure out what.

"But you touched him," Luca interjected. "You told them it was you." Pine looked to Serena, shocked that she would do such a thing. Luca only recognized it because he had seen it happen once, in a small land war that happened before this new age.

"I left my signature there, yes. Bane is only going to tell them the same thing, and I always claim my kills. Only a coward would kill a demon they knew without claiming it with their own hands."

"Like a sign of respect?" Pine asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"A sign of respect for herself, not for him. I doubt chopping off his head without declaring her weapons, or intentions, honors the demon," Alden said with a scoff. He didn't say it aloud, but it was something that he would have done. Her wings snapped out again, angry with Alden speaking of her as if she were not here, as if he wanted to know about her.

"It was a signal that I claimed the kill, just a simple acknowledgment of my skill. Demons do not honor the dead; we are all considered dead already, eliminating the need to express the sentiment. As for declaring my intentions, they didn't declare theirs when entering the city, as is the standard protocol for demons entering a new territory. And Alden," she said, swinging her uncommonly beautiful face towards his, "Chopping off his head was a mercy, compared to what I wanted to do, what I could have done to him."

"Like shearing off his wings?" he asked on a whisper, moving lightening fast towards where she was standing. He reached a hand out, and lightly touched the very top edge of her wing. It was smooth, but still soft, the texture of the inside of his own wings. But with the dull, flat grey, it took on the appearance of armor, with an almost reptilian quality. A shudder went through her, as if she were shaking off water on that one side.

Pine and Luca were staring at Alden and the demon with an open bewilderment mixed with amusement.

"I wouldn't wish that on anything, no matter how vile they were, and I can assure you that Marcus would put most Throne's to shame. I'm curious. Did I show that memory to you, or did you pick it out of my head without asking?" Serena asked. She walked away then, towards the bag that sat just at the corner of the back patio and a side alley. Footsteps behind her kept pace, Alden.

"You projected it, but I could have picked it out eventually." He said it with a refreshing amount of honesty. Alden didn't strike her as the type of man to waste time with words that meant nothing. Serena had found the truck keys at last, and then turned to tuck her wings in again. She wasn't beyond begging at this point that they would behave and stay where they were.

"Listen, this has been a blast, really, but I'm going now. If you seen Bane around again, give him my best," Serena said with a smile. Alden, however, was not smiling back. Pine and Luca were both standing behind him, and all of their faces meant business.

"Serena we need to talk to you, now more than ever really. If you come with us, we can keep you safe from whatever backlash is coming your way." Pine seemed so sincere, like a human boy scout, that she had a hard time not laughing at him.

"Safe from Bane? The three of you are going to protect me from the legion of Throne damned? I must be pretty damn important to you. What do you want from me?" Pine stepped into a point position now, looking from left to right, as if he had heard something.

"Having a few more people at your back can't hurt Serena. Not now." Pine added in, noticing her reluctance.

"And if you don't decide to come willingly, we can take you by force, since now we know your limitations in weaponry," Alden added in, feeling antsy with their exposed position, and Serena's lack of decisiveness.

"Threatening wasn't the way to go champ," Serena responded, bounding into the air while she threw a glamour over herself. The three angels burst into action, but they had far more to worry about in terms of exposure, so they couldn't move quite as fast as she could.

"Does she have a car?" Luca asked Pine, the only one here who knew her at all.

"No, she lives a block over. She must be flying somewhere close. You both keep to the air; I'll go to her place and see if she returns." Alden frowned, knowing that Serena was far to smart to return to her apartment at a time like this.

Serena burst into the air, her eyes scanning the employee parking lot for Miguel's truck. The old girl stood proud, sticking out from everyone's civics and other economy cars. The paint was starting to rust some, but she must have been handsome in her day, all cherry red with a white interior.

She landed deftly into the bed, taking care to keep as low as possible to the frame. There were no sounds of beating wings above her, but she knew just how quickly that could change. In her pack was an old tarp, used mainly for erecting easy shelters, but now she threw it over herself for some added camouflage. Those dumb angels would be looking towards the air, while she was hiding here, in the back of a human truck.

"Where did she go?" Alden asked Pine when he returned. A search of the area produced nothing, not a trace or a feather anywhere in the area.

"She didn't go back to her place," Pine said, running his hand through his thick curly hair. It was longer than he usually wore it, but that seemed to be the style for the time here, especially at the college.

"Of course she didn't, she's no idiot. You didn't fucking tell us she was a Throne demon either Pine. A Throne demon!" Alden screamed, loud enough that Serena was able to hear most of what they were saying.

"I didn't know she was that, okay? The Throne's haven't exiled anyone in ages, and there is no record of her on our end, at all. As in never having existed Alden. There is no mention of her in the old texts. All the intel Lane gave us pointed to her being a standard demon, with some contacts with the Throne's." She could hear Alden snickering as Pine spoke.

"Some contact huh? She's the wife of Bane! That's a pretty significant development Pine. You were supposedly getting so close to her, getting to know her. This isn't match dot fucking com Pine; this is for someone's life. How do you spend a year and a half talking to a demon and not figure that out?"

Pine spoke next so quickly that she could tell he was angry. The human Professor Pine, or what she thought was human Pine, spoke incredible fast when he was passionate about something.

"Oh, you think she led with that? I was supposed to be a religious studies professor, not some demon hunter wanting to know the specifics of her relationship with someone I didn't even know she was familiar with. Yes, Alden, your right, I should have led with, do you have any known marriages, preferably with high up Throne prince? It took me six fucking months to get her to smile at me Alden. Six months," Pine said, his panting breath audible from her seat in the truck. They must be talking from the sidewalk nearest her; she realized.

"What's her smile like?" Luca asked, sounding incredulous at the thought. Pine took a moment before answering.

"I only got a half one, with a joke about an archangel." Serena could hear the smile on Pine's face as he spoke it, herself fondly remembering the moment. "But it was like she was granting you a boon, just by doing it."

"Pine's in love," Luca intoned, his playful voice making Serena feel strange. These three had one another, as she had Bane once. She wondered, what it would feel like for one of them to turn on one another, for their tight group to splinter, scattering them to the winds, as she was now.

"I'm not the one that touched her fucking wings," Pine said, cursing for the first time that she could recall in all their conversations. Alden didn't scoff this time; he didn't say anything, perhaps because Bane was holding him in the air, knife pointed towards his chest.

"Yes, and touching her was a big no-no angel."

**Chapter 3**

"Oh, Serena!" Bane yelled, knowing that she was close by. These absolute morons were searching high and low for her, but he knew she would be hiding out close. At least these damn angels would be good for something, he mused, as the tip of his knife plunged ever so gently into the sternum of the one called Alden.

"She's long gone by now Bane," Luca said, stepping in front of Pine for a moment. Bane was hanging just out of range for his hands, with Alden strapped to his front, the edge of a long dagger digging deep into Alden's chest. Bane must have found what he said humorous, because he started laughing.

"You three don't know the first thing about her. She's great at running, but as Pine here can attest to, she's even better at hiding. I'd bet she's close, close enough to know that I'm carving an especially beautiful S right into his chest. Like superman," Bane exclaimed with a dry laugh. Serena knew what she wanted to do, but that was often so different than what she should do, so she felt frozen at the moment.

"I know what you did to her, you piece of trash. I saw what you did to her, how could you?" Alden hissed out, unable to contain it any longer. He shouldn't feel so rageful at what had happened to Serena, but there was something about the way she looked, curled up on the ground, her hands holding her detached wings.

"Oh, she must have slept with you then. Serulia never tells that secret, in fact, I don't think she's told a soul of that event since it happened. And that was before your time angel, before all of your times combined, isn't that right dearest?" Bane called out, specifically for her. Serena was biting down so hard on her cheek that she actually drew blood, which was a feat considering how slow her heartbeat.

"And I'm willing to bet she never slept with you Bane." Alden said it with a wince, expecting a shot from Bane as soon as he said it. It seemed to bounce right off him though, and it made Alden consider if what he had said was really true, as he was now suspecting it to be. Serena wasn't his wife, at least in the very strictest of all definitions.

"Serulia has a habit of sleeping with anyone, regardless of species, so it was reasonable to suspect that she slept with you. But now I get the sense that she didn't, which doesn't settle right with me any better." At least if she had slept with him, Bane thought to himself, then he could forgive her telling of that horrible day with Alden. But she could sense that they hadn't, and it made him furious. She must be in love with him then; it was the only logical conclusion to why he would know that.

"She didn't tell me; she was thinking of a memory of you, and it happened to project to me. I'm incredibly strong in the mental arts; it wasn't her fault." Serena could have been knocked over with a stiff breeze. Alden was actually trying to cover for her, for what reason she couldn't fathom, but he wanted her to seem better in Bane's eyes, so he told the truth. Great, now she had little choice. It seemed she was stuck with three angels that were really decent creatures. What were the odds?

"So then you know I didn't do that to her at all. Perhaps if you dug further, you would realize that Serena was caught helping a Power, and that is why she was delivered her sentence. And while it hurt to see, she deserved every second of it. I warned her; we all did, what happens to demons who do things such as that. And this was before the covenant was drawn up mind you. We were within our rights to execute her, and it would have happened, if not for our engagement. I saved her; I was the one that called her name out over and over for a cycle to get her up on her feet."

A full cycle? Pine thought with a blanche. That was nearly a century in human time. The angels didn't have such punishments, ripping the wings off another is considered an unforgivable grievance, and a punishment as such has never occurred. His own wings twitched uncomfortably under his skin, as if they felt threatened by the idea.

"And yet you let it happen, what does that say for your beloved?" Alden managed to imbue the word with such disdain that even Serena cracked a smile.

"It says that I gave my wife mercy, while teaching her an important lesson." Serena took the moment of astonishment to reach around her bag for additional weapons. If Bane kept talking, she might just have to do the unthinkable, and met out some of her own lessons.

"We don't teach our wives lessons, at least not ones that cause them so much pain," Alden replied with severe honesty. Behind his eyes, he kept seeing Serena, in that awful position, her skin the color of unblemished cream, her eyes the exact shade of night. And those poor discarded wings, lying like two dead children at her sides. He'd never wipe the memory from his conscious.

"Serena, if you care for this angel at all, then you will come out now. He has a mouth that could rival yours, and I grow tired of his backwards ethics." With that, Bane slashed a deep wound into Alden's chest, from collarbone to hip. The blade he carried must have been cursed, because it burned through, and even now it took a terrible effort not to give him the satisfaction of a scream.

Turning up now would only kill him faster, so Serena kept silent, twin tear marks making their way down her face. She alone knew what Bane was capable of, and it had her heart hurting to imagine that rage turned on someone else. But it was the blood that had her itching. All that precious angel blood, so full of life and light, just spilling uselessly onto the concrete sidewalk. She could sustain herself for another century on his life force alone.

"I think you underestimate just how much she hates you Bane. She's probably halfway to Canada at the moment. And you can slice me and dice me all you want, I've never laid eyes on her before tonight. We mean very little to her, barely a blip on her radar, and I for one could care less about a lost demon princess that prey's on college kids and professors. She's unnatural, and while you assume we have slept together, you don't know me well enough to see how ridiculous that assumption is. Pine can tell you that I have more demon kills in the last war than anyone from my ascension. It's your choice, but making an enemy now seems foolish." Bane spat off to the side, not liking at all the amount of sense that this fucking angel was making. He took his knife and sliced the other side just before dropping him to the ground. It was a bit deeper than he was intending, but it made little difference. If Serena were here, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from coming out, so he had to move on.

"You three stay out of my business. Serena is no concern of yours, and as long as you remember to keep my wife's name out of your mouth, then we will be fine." With a flick of his wrist and a perverse hand gesture, Bane was gone.

"Alden," Luca exclaimed. Serena could hear Alden's ragged breathing, the suppression of his pain seemed like a tangible entity, and she could feel it from her crouched position. But she was stuck here, unable at all to go to them and help. Serena wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to do, but there was an odd urge in her to go to Alden. To provide comfort, or for something else, she wasn't aware, but the whole feeling was uncomfortable.

Regardless, she thought, showing herself now would only expose her position to Bane. If he were still the same, then he would be hiding out, waiting for her.

"I'm fine stop it," Alden hissed. It sounded like his teeth were smashed together.

"That was a demon blade Alden. We must get you back, without proper healing, you could be poisoned. Bane could have coated that dagger in something or placed some kind of spell on it. This is not up for discussion," Pine told Alden firmly. He was trying to keep the fear out of his voice, so it came out cold, which was good for Alden, he responded to direct orders better than pity.

Alden looked incredible pale, and the wound on his chest felt hot to his touch. None of the three was a healer, but they had one back at the house, if she was willing to use her gifts on Alden.

Serena could hear the trepidation in Pine's voice. Alden must have really gotten it good with Bane. And, she thought grimly to herself; Pine was also right to question what had been done to the blade. Could she risk coming out now? No, she decided practically, Bane was most likely waiting somewhere close. During the hunt, he liked to watch his prey struggle, and then die. He claimed it was important to the process, but she knew it was just a personal preference to enjoy the suffering of others.

Bane had once told her that it made him feel again, to relish in the dark emotions of others. Living as long as immortals did, it often dulled the senses. Numbness, apathy, were both common diseases of demons, and so they often looked to feed off the emotions of others. Happiness is fleeting, but sorrow, deep, deep sorrow, can sustain a demon for long lengths of time.

"I don't need a healer, I need a good drink," Alden joked, his words cut off with a vicious cough. Serena could hear the gurgling, the blood that was bubbling up in his airway. It wasn't as fatal for an angel as it was for a human, but it didn't mean good things for his intended fate.

"This is not up for discussion Alden. Now, we can fly you there, or we can take the human transport." Luca, sounding far more secure than Pine, told his friend this with complete purpose. They were exposed, and now injured, and Alden's stubborn ass was going to get them all killed if he kept this up.

"I would rather die here than have the two of you carry me publicly," Alden spat. Serena would have insisted the very same thing, and she wasn't sure if that should make her feel better, or worse.

Serena could hear them getting Alden to his feet, but since she couldn't hear his feet on the ground, Pine and Luca must be carrying him at least some. The truth that Alden wasn't throwing barbs at them told her just how bad he was getting. Serena guessed that unless they could figure out what Bane did, Alden would be dead coming morning.

The noise of their moving died, and with her exceptional hearing, Serena knew that they were now out of her range. The sound of the engine purring into the night told her they were gone further, tires squealing in their haste. It should have relieved her; her chest ought to be lighter, instead of this strange heaviness that seemed to have settled in her center.

Just before she was about to jump into the truck, the faintest of wing flapping gathered her attention. Bane, she recognized his scent almost immediately. He smelled of home, the slow burn of fire, mixed with the deep linger of mixing herbs. There were a few times in her long exile that she was brought back with the scent, but this time it made her dizzy, almost nauseous.

"Serena," Bane said finally, "I can sense you out here somewhere, but you should know that the dawn is coming, and I can withstand the rise far better than you. It wouldn't be out of the question for me to wait you out. I would hate it so to see your perfect skin bubbling up with blisters from the sun. Remember the last war, your skin began peeling, rolled up in sheets and just fell off you like wet papyrus." Bane followed this up with a dramatic sigh, as if she was a child that was taking too long.

Of course Serena remembered it, the image of herself, raw and deep blood-red all over, was permanently part of her consciousness. Bane had actually complimented her on it, saying that it was the one time she looked like a _true_ demon. It had taken her half a cycle to get all of her skin the normal color, and that was with daily baths in a specific solution.

"Well, how could you forget that Serena? It was truly one of the most horrific sites that many of us had ever seen. And it was all to make a stand, you stubborn vixen. I suppose it's one of the things that pulls me to you, even now, even with everything you have done to me." Serena rolled her eyes; it was going to be a long night if Bane was determined to speak for the next eight hours. She settled in to the sounds of his voice, but another's face kept flashing in front of her closed eyelids.


End file.
